Update~#Justice for All on TeeVee, in real life... not so much #FergusonReport #Scandal #BlackLivesMatter

In the end, we went with showing what fulfilling the dream SHOULD mean. The idea of possibility.  And the despair we feel now. #scandal
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) March 6, 2015

Isn't it ironic  night's episode of #Scandal addressed institutional racism and police brutality shortly after the release of the #FergusonReport?

Thursday night's "Scandal" focused on the shooting of an unarmed black teen named Brandon Parker in Washington, D.C., less than two miles from the White House. In the episode, called "The Lawn Chair," tensions run high as the boy's father positions himself in front of his son's body with a shotgun, refusing to move from the crime scene. Mere days after being held hostage and auctioned on the black market, Olivia Pope is brought on the help the police force manage the incident. She works to avoid a riot, but soon finds herself disillusioned by the people she is defending.
It doesn't take long for Liv to be swayed by the injustice, and she joins forces with the activist leading the crowd surrounding Brandon and his father Clarence. "Stand up. Fight back. No more black men under attack," she chants.

Did I mention this was TeeVee and not real life?  We all know in real life Oliva Pope would not join forces with the other side.   In real life the people who are part of the problem are asked to help solve it.

While Ms. Twitty was terminated, her involvement in the emails and their wide distribution illustrate how difficult fixing the Ferguson Police Department and municipal court will be when many city officials led, participated in or tolerated the most controversial practices uncovered by the Justice Department. Those city employees include the police chief who authorized arrests without probable cause; the municipal judge who adds new charges when people contest their citations, yet quietly got his own traffic ticket wiped away; and the city manager who was the force behind the financially driven policies that led to widespread discrimination.

What could possibly go wrong with people who are part of the problem fixing the problem? I mean, really?

Through her usual super-human powers, Liv is able to prove the knife did not belong to Brandon -- it was evidence from an earlier arrest; Brandon was just reaching for a receipt -- and puts the offending office behind bars. "What the hell is it with you people? Yeah, you people," the (unabashedly racist) policeman who shot Brandon yells at Olivia when she confronts him at the station. "You people have no idea what loyalty is, what respect is. You're here because you were supposed to help us and you spend every second of it trying to tear me down and push your own damn agenda." It's a sobering moment where the camera finds the black officers in the room, focusing on each of their faces as the cop spews his racist agenda.
During the final moments of the episode, Nina Simone plays in the background and Liv tells Clarence the officer is behind bars. Justice is served. She then brings him to the White House and the episode closes with Clarence crying in President Fitz's arms. A final shot shows Brandon being zipped into a body bag.

Did I mention this we TeeVee and not real life?  Everybody knows in real life Liv wouldn't have been able to prove the victim was not to blame for their own death.  Everybody knows in real life the Attorney General and the President of the United States of America would make sure Justice is served.

Last night's episode was deep.  Thank you #ShondaRhimes for bringing this topic to light, now if we could only apply it to real life and fulfill what the dream should mean.  

President Obama on Friday defended the Department of Justice's (DOJ) conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to bring civil rights charges against Darren Wilson, the white police officer who shot dead Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, in Ferguson, Mo., in August 2014.
Obama said during a town hall in South Carolina that he had "complete confidence and [stood] fully behind" the DOJ's decision regarding Wilson, whom said he killed Brown in self defense.
"We may never know exactly what happened, but Officer Wilson — like anyone else who is charged with a crime — benefits from due process and a reasonable-doubt standard," Obama said, fielding a question about why the DOJ didn't charge Wilson.

But I’m sure by next week, all will be back to normal in Hollywood


#BlackLivesMatter